****Proverb of the month ****
The sea has no shore...learning has no end
Submit your favorite Yiddishism!

Abba , father, also a cult singing group from the 70s
a biseleh - a very little
A broch! - Oh hell! Damn it!
A broch tsu mir! - Oy! I've been cursed.
A chazer bleibt a chazer! - A pig remains a pig!
a dank - thanks, thank you
A deigeh hob ich? - Is it my worry?
A feier zol im trefen - He should burn up!
A gezunt dahf dein kop! - Good health to you!
ahf tsores - in trouble
aidel - cultured
aliya - return to Israel, being called to the Torah, literally "going
upwards"
alter kucker - old person, very derogatory
Am Yisroel - The people of Israel (all Jews).
azoy? - really?

bagels - Invented in Chelm, nothing like the doughy globs sold in North
American supermarkets/hard circular roll with a hole in the center.
balebatisheh yiden - Respectable Jews of good substance and standing.
balebosteh - housewife/hostess/capable homemaker/matriach
balnes - miracle worker
balshem - Term applied to a faith healer/performer of miracles.
Bar Mitzvah - A boy who, on completion of his l3th year, accepts the
responsibility of fulfilling the religious law/also the celebration of
this event (of becoming a man).
bas - daughter
Bas/Bat Mitzvah - A girl who has reached the age when she is required
to fulfill certain mitsvos (commands, obligations).
ben zona - Son of a prostitute.
bialys - like bagels, more gluten flour
Birkat hamazon - grace after a meal
blintses/blintzes - crepes filled with cheese and perhaps fruit
bobbeh/bubbee - grandmother
bocher - bachelor/unmarried man/young man
borsht - beet or cabbage soup
boychik - young boy
brech a fus - break a leg
bris or brit - circumcision of Jewish male
brocha - a prayer
bupkas - (Lit "beans") nothing

challah - Sabbath twists of egg-yolk colored bread/made in a variety of
shapes for various holidays.
chavurah , group of friends, prayer group
Chassid - a very orthodox Jew who dresses in a particular kind of black
suit and black hat with a black yarmulke underneath the hat. Chassidism
was founded in Poland in the 1700s by the Baal Shem Tov.
Chazen - Cantor
chazer/chazzer - pig
chazerai - junk (lit. "pig stuff")/unpalatable/rotten
chochem - wise man (slang) - a wise guy
chosser daieh - feeble-minded
chozer bitshuvah - a Jew who has become religious
chupeh - bridal canopy/ Its 4 poles signify the 4 corners of the world,
and a cloth "roof", sometimes blue, symbolic of the heavens.
chutzpah - audacity/utter nerve

Danken G-t! - Thank G-d!
daven - pray
Dershtikt zolstu verem! - You should choke on it!
draikop - Scatterbrain; one who tends to confuse you; one who connives
and twists the facts to serve his own purpose.
Drai zich! - Keep moving!
drek - trash/manure or excrement
Drek ahf a shpendel! - As unimportant as dung on a piece of wood!
Du bis a Yid? Gey gezunt! - Are you Jewish? Go in good health!
dumkop - dumbell/dunce
dybbuk - Soul condemned to wander for a time in this world because of
its sins. The dybbuk seeks refuge in the body of some pious person over
whom the demons have no power. The dybbuk is a Cabalistic conception.

ech - A groan/a disparaging exclamation.
Ei, gut - Great! Just great!
einhoreh - evil eye
eizel - fool/dope
El Al Airlines - 'to the sky'/Israel's national airline
emah - mother
Eretz Yisroel - The land of Israel.
Er frest vi a ferd - He eats like a horse.
es/essen - eat
es vet zich oys-hailen far der chasseneh: It will heal in time for the
wedding. (Told even to a child when s/he gets hurt. The implication is
that marriage is a cure-all).

Pesach - Passover
petseleh - little penis (affectionately applied to infant boy)
Peyot or Peyos - long full "sideburns" because of the
commandment not
to trim the corners of your beard. Often the peyot are curled.
pisher - very young boy/can be an insult
pishteppel - pee pot
pletzels - usually onion-flavored flat breads
plotz - fall over in despair
potch - a little slap
proster oilem - common people
pupik - belly button
pushkeh - poor box (In every traditional Jewish home, odd coins are put
in this, particularly on Friday afternoon before the Sabbath begins;
money is used for the support of philanthropic and educational
institutions).

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